BMI under 27 - Off Label/less to lose

[ritala]

I am mid 40’s and just can’t lose the weight like I used to. I’m fed up of losing and gaming the same two pounds. I’m about a stone and a half more than my happy weight (where I would be approx bmi 23).

I have tried to find a thread for people who have been approved ‘off label’ Wegovy or Mounjaro with less to lose but couldn’t find one, so thought I’d start here. I have a BMI higher than 25 but less than 27 with a couple extra health conditions. Hoping to start after Easter. I’d like to stay with a very low dose if possible. Half a pound a week loss would be good for me. I really want to avoided side effects.

Anyone who is in a similar boat and wants to share experiences or ask questions, please join! X

How the drug degrades once in your system, it halves every 7 days or so.

I take 0.25ml wegovy wk1
On wk2 I have approx 0.12 left and I add 0.25 so 0.37
Wk 3 0.18 left and add 0.25 so 0.43ml in there
etc
After about 5 weeks I reach a steady state of having about 2.3ml at my lowest and 4.8ml just after I inject without ever going up on my injections.

Id never really thought about it, I'm a scientist, might model it more accurately.

This is the best I can do without more info. Assumes a half life of 7 days and linear decomposition. So basically after 5 weeks the minimum amount in your system is equal to your dose and the maximum amount is 2x your dose.

@NinthBestOption thank you, that’s very useful, I hadn’t realised that it builds up in your system over time. That’s quite reassuring as I want to stay on a low dose.

I tracked carefully the first 4 weeks so I could get used to 1300-1450 kcal per day but I haven’t been sticking to it religiously since then. I find protein powder very useful for increasing protein- eg every morning I have 0% fat vanilla yoghurt mixed with half a scoop of vanilla protein powder plus a half tbs of chia seeds and fruit. That gives me about 21 grams of protein, add in 2 hard boiled eggs or some beef jerky and you’re at 30 before noon. I have had to start eating more red meat than I used to as well but I have been trying to build muscle for a couple of years and it’s been very helpful with that. I was a vegetarian and vegan for most of my 20s and 30s so it’s been a bit of a trip! Adding in some definitely would boost your protein intake though.

I’ve also switched to eating most of my calories for breakfast and lunch as I find by the evening I am a bit put off by food and I can then feel hungry if I haven’t eaten enough earlier. I have also found I sleep better if I have a small snack of Greek yogurt just before bed, which give me more protein.

@NinthBestOptionthat's really interesting. Thank you for explaining it so clearly.

I had a lovely lunch out. I chose the halloumi burger and really enjoyed it but left the bun and half the fries. This felt instinctive in terms of not getting too full rather than deliberately trying to reduce calories, if that makes sense?

That's how I'm doing it too. I don't particularly want to count calories and would like to get used to having smaller portions so I can hopefully stick to that after coming off (although I would consider micro dosing if needed). If I lose a couple of pounds a week I'm happy with that so I don't feel the need to be super strict, and I do want to be able to maintain it.

It's really interesting how the suppression varies, (I think it was @NinthBestOption who said they had found this too) midweek I had a day when I was really quite hungry, but the last couple of days ie right at the end of my dose I've felt much more full, which I wouldn't have expected!

Hey @BeachforeverYes, I saw the pile on! Completely unnecessary but I had something similiar happen to me, hence starting this thread. The ‘safe space’ lol.

I am also microdosing (Wegovy). My last jab (taken last Saturday and only 0.06 - so a 1/4 of the usual starting dose) had totally worn off by Friday. Maybe even Thursday. Well, the effects had. Yesterday I ate loads. I was hungry all day. I’m not sure if it was some kind of self sabotage or what, but it wasn’t good and now obviously I have woken up feeling like crap.

I had half a glass of Prosecco last night too. I’d been ‘looking forward to having a drink’ as I’ve not actually drunk for a few weeks (mixture of reasons) and it at all since I started Wegovy. Anyway, I just could not finish it. I wasn’t enjoying it, didn’t get ‘tha feeling’. Nothing. So now I have one of those mini Prosecco bottles in the fridge with a wine stopper thingy in it. First time ever - it looks funny in those little bottles.

So yeah, not great my end. I had visions of me being brilliant and healthy in the week and then being able to have a drink and relax a bit more over the weekend but it’s not reallly working out that way. A lot of my social life revolves around meals out and brunches etc. I need to change some activities and my attitude I think. Fortunately I am still enjoying black coffee (I know a lot of people go off coffee), so still got that as a kind of ‘vice’.

we have friends over for lunch today - not really in the right frame of mind but at least I know I’ll be able to eat it. Probably unlikely to have a drink though.

Hope others are doing better than me! I’ll be back to jabbing tomorrow and I’ll move up to 0.12 (half of the starter dose.) Hopefully the good effects last longer (appetite suppression and no food noise) but I won’t get the insane insomnia I had with 0.25.

Have a great Sunday all

Just updating

Day 4, no appetite suppression or reduced food noise. Still vague nausea. Sleep slightly improved.

Have lost 3kg due to the nausea and fear of side effects. Doesn't feel like a win because without some suppression I'll start eating normally again soon. Woke up absolutely starving.

What I really, really want from this is a reduction in food noise. I can eat healthily and ignore hunger signals but I think about food all the time. Looking forward to the next dose.

Hope everyone's doing well.

@NinthBestOptioni also woke up starving, if that’s any consolation! The other night - I woke up ‘starving’ in the night. This morning I had to get out of bed to eat something. Feeling a bit sick now too so have a ginger chew on the go.

Sending strength and food suppression vibes to you (and hopefully me!!)

@ritalait's really interesting the whole microdosing thing as I wonder if that’s the way for me to go long term. How long can you use one pen for? Does it expire?

Ive had a good first week, lost 2.5lbs but it’s not really had the good effects on my eating I was hoping!

Day 1 suppression was so high I really couldn’t eat. Then day 2-5 was mild nausea, I found it much like early pregnancy. Couldn’t eat big meals but snacking helped which is really what I was trying to avoid.
Day 6&7 less nausea and not too much suppression but still ate less than normal.
I had wine last night but like others have said it just wasn’t the same so I didn’t even finish the glass!

Hope everyone is feeling good today and side effects are minimal

@ritala posting in solidarity. I've found the side effects from Wegovy to be really bad, including insomnia (which my GP advised against the use of anti-histamines as suggested earlier in this thread).

As the side effects are not abating (with management) I am swapping to Mounjaro. Hopefully, the SE from this drug will be less. I won't know unless I try!

@CatAsstrophe how long were you on it for? Have to admit I think insomnia would be a pretty non negotiable SE for me, I feel like you can treat nausea, I’d be useless without sleep!

I've been on Wegovy for 6 weeks. In addition to insomnia, I always feel nauseous (varying degrees), have stomach ache/cramps, heartburn, constipation and I feel as though I have low level flu (minus the cold/cough symptoms) - aching body and no energy.

I thought the SE would ease off as time went on, but sadly not. I have informed the provider about the SE several times, and been given advice (for measures I already had in place).

Very little sleep over the past consecutive few nights was the final straw.

@CatAsstrophe I really hope MJ is a better fit for you, that sounds horrid.

Thank you @kljdhs877

That does sound rough. I'd have thought those sorts of side effects would ease once you got used to it. Hope MJ is better.

Starting to think my crap sleep is the jab, I occasionally have a bad night or 2 through stress but never like this.

Has anyone else had a headache that just won’t shift. I’ve taken paracetamol but the haven’t touched it. If it doesn’t ease off I’m not sure I’m up for dose 2! 🤦‍♀️

@Softpebbles yes headaches is a common SE for me, I have to drink 3L a day to keep them at bay.

@NinthBestOption - thank you!

@Softpebbles - headaches are a known side effect. Drink plenty of water.

I just did my second jab but ballsed it up a bit and there was liquid in my skin when I removed the pen 😩. Really annoying!

I‘m on day 5 of first jab.

I’ve lost about 3lbs (looks like more if you take it from my Voy starting weight when I weighed in the evening wearing clothes, but I’m now back to weighing in the morning as I usually do, so it’s 3lbs from that starting weight).

I think I possibly do have a bit of appetite suppression, but in terms of food noise (I’ve never been really sure exactly what that is), I’m definitely still thinking about food quite a lot. I suppose the difference is that I’m just wondering what to have for meals, I’m not considering tucking into a load of rubbish between meals.

I had an alcohol free beer yesterday in a pub garden - did not enjoy it. I have been enjoying a nightly can of Trip though - only 20 calories.

Edited to add: my sleep has been truly terrible - night before last I did not sleep after 3am. However, I did have a good night last night, so hopefully the insomnia has been temporary.

I has the same with my first jab this week, don’t think it was the whole dose gone but been playing on my mind about whether it’s doing anything!

@IDontKnowWhatYouMeanI think my ‘food noise’ has been similar. I’ve thought a lot about what to eat but because I’m worried about side effects and don’t really know what I fancy if that makes sense?

I’ve used antihistamine sleeping tablets a couple of nights. I’ve always been a rubbish sleeper so that’s not unusual for me. I’d be interested to know why someone up thread was told not to use them? Sorry can’t remember who it was!

I’d be interested to know why someone up thread was told not to use them? Sorry can’t remember who it was!

I can't remember either, but she said that her GP had suggested not using them.

I made the original suggestion to the OP (to try an antihistamine at night for sleep) and I do think it can be helpful.
I'm surprised that someone's GP was opposed to this, as my own doctor is very much in favour.

I think you can only get it with bmi 27 and under if you have an additional weight-related health condition. I had high-cholesterol but at the time I got it, I don’t think this was counted as a relevant extra condition. Maybe it was though